Yard care including the treatment of grass and/or plant beds with fertilizers, weed control, insect or fungal control and/or other chemical treatments is a very large market in the United States, and probably elsewhere. Many people take pride in their yards and are willing to spend large sums of money to protect their investment and the look of their yard.
In order to treat lawns, numerous technological advances have occurred including U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,649 which shows a housing adapted to support a number of canisters of liquid chemical treatments. This housing is connected to an irrigation system such as those sold by Rain Bird Sprinkler Manufacturing Corporation so that the various liquid chemicals can be directed to the yard of a user. However, whatever chemicals are added in the dispenser shown in the '649 patent are apparently delivered to the entire yard. Furthermore, while liquid chemicals have various advantages in that they are already dissolved in liquid and they are easily disbursed via a stream of water, they also have a number of disadvantages. Specifically, concentrated liquids may pose a risk to pets or small children, and may result in overconcentration to a desired area of the yard thus providing a negative effect when a desired effect was sought. Specifically, over fertilizing is well known to kill plants. If the water supply is secured and the chemicals are directed to the outlet, they may continue out the system undiluted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,610 shows a fertilizer dispensing apparatus which dispenses a solid fertilizer core in which water is run through the inside surfaces of a hollow cylinder of solid chemical fertilizer. Although this delivery method is believed to be an improvement over the prior art, improvements in the delivery of solid fertilizer with fluid streams are believed to exist. Specifically, this design prevents water from contacting exterior surfaces of the fertilizer cylinder while allowing fluid to only contact the interior bore portion of the cylinder. Furthermore, this device appears to be adapted for use with a hose instead of an irrigation system.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved yard chemical distribution system and method.